HUNTSVILLE is a short film about a father and son who must renegotiate their roles on the day of the father’s prison release. The film is written and directed by award-winning, Austin-based filmmaker Johnny McAllister. We follow Will’s 10-year-old son Cole and his old friend JW as they pick up Will outside of prison. When Will becomes overwhelmed with life outside, Cole must take charge. Will and Cole struggle to find common ground, and will ultimately decide if they can forge a connection through familiar pastimes.
HUNTSVILLE is a fiscally sponsored project of the Austin Film Society. You can make a donation to this project here. You will receive a letter acknowledging your gift to the Austin Film Society on behalf of the project. Since AFS is a non-profit organization, your donation may be deducted from your taxes as a charitable contribution under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Johnny McAllister is a filmmaker and writer from Donegal, Ireland. He has written and produced films that have screened at international festivals including Cannes, Sundance and SXSW. Raised in the Middle East and North Africa, McAllister pulls from a wide cultural spectrum to inspire his work. He was a co-writer and executive producer on BULL, which debuted at Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2019 and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. His writing credits include OLYMPIA, for Austin-based director Robert Byington, and the short film BE QUIET for Palestinian director Sameh Zoabi. In 2010, he co-wrote and produced WHALING CITY, an indie feature which received the Alfred P. Sloan Award. Johnny cofounded Transterra Media in 2009, a news and documentary startup in Beirut, Lebanon, whose mission is to empower filmmakers and journalists throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In 2013 he produced and co-wrote BOOGER RED, a hybrid doc/narrative based on a serious miscarriage of justice in East Texas. Johnny received his MFA from Columbia University in 2004. He was selected for the Sundance 2016 Screenwriters Lab. Johnny lives in Austin, Texas with his family and is the head of production at Texas State University.
